Shoe-ironing apparatus.



G. S. GOVELL. SHOE IRONING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED F1fB.24, 190s. EENEWED AUG. 14, 1911.

Patented 001;. 31, 1911.

Mama x COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.. WASHINGTON. n c.

UNITED sTATEs EETENIT ounce.

GEORGE s. covELL, 0F LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, AsSIeNoE. To UNITED sHoE' MA- cHINEEY COMPANY, 0E PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION 0E NEW JERSEY.

SHOE-IRONING APPARATUS.

Specification of -Iietters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1911.

Original application filed June 26, 1907, Serial No. 380,939. Divided and this application filed February 24, -1908,'Seria1 No. 417,553. Renewed August 14, 1911. Serial No. 644,041.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE S. CovELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Shoe-Ironing Apparatus, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to an apparatus or device for use in the manufacture of boots and shoes and this application is a division of an application Serial No. 380,939, filed by me June 26, 1907. This device is intended to be employed after the lasting operation for the purpose of forcing or press ing the upper materials against the last to cause them to conform to the shape of the underlying faces of the last and of smoothing the shoe to remove Wrinkles or inequalities that may be present in the upper materials. It has heretofore been the custom of the hand workman to rub and beat the shoe with the head of a hand hammer during or after the lasting operation, and apparatus has been devised in which the shoe is similarly treated by mechanically operated tools. The portions of the shoe at and adjacent to the edge of the bottom where the upper materials are bent over the edge of the last and are folded or plaited on the shoe bottom at the heel and toe of the last, are among the most difficult portions to con form to the last and to smooth. I have discovered that in making most classes of shoes improved results can be obtained by treating with a heated instrument, or ironing, those portions of the upper at and adjacent to the edge of the shoe for the purpose of shaping them to the last and smoothing and finishing the surface of the upper. The present invention comprises novel means for ironing a shoe. this invention consists in ironing means particularly adapted for use in treating a lasted shoe at and adj acent to the edge of the shoe bottom prior to the application of the outer sole to the shoe. The ironing means is herein illustrated for the purpose of explanation as embodied in a device which may be An important feature of a hand tool, but is preferably a mechanically supported ironing device, which is shown as stationary, to which the shoe is presented and with relation to which the shoe is moved by the operator fortreating its dilferent parts. The stationary ironing tool has certain advantages among which may be mentioned the fact that the tool may be attached to any convenient support, as a bench or a bracket although I preferably attach it to the frame of a machine by which a pre ceding or a succeeding operation is performed upon the shoe. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention I have shown the ironing device as attached to a pounding-up machine in convenient position for the machine operator to present the shoe to the ironing device while standing in working relation to the machine. In accordance with an important feature of this invention the ironing device is provided with an ironing surface formed to treat the upper material at and adjacent to the edge of the last on both the sideand bottom faces of the shoe. By presenting a shoe to an ironing device thus formed and turningthe shoe one or more times-in firm engagement with the ironing surface the edge and adjacent portions of the shoe may be smoothed and shaped very quickly and satisfactorily. As shown the portion of the ironing surface which is intended to act upon the bottom of a welt shoe will beof an appropriate shape and width to engage the overworked upper of the lasted shoe from the edge of the shoe inwardly to or approximately to the point where the upper is bent upwardly against the lip or shoulder of the innersole. Preferably this surface will terminate in an angular formation which is adapted to force the upper snugly into the angle between the feather edge of the innersole and said lip or shoulder in which position it is subsequently to be fastened by sewing as is usual. The heated ironing tool molds the upper into this position and causes it to retain its molded shape even more effectively than an unheated tool would do. In an ironing device intended foruse upon McKay shoes the width of the portion of the ironing surface engaging the bottom of the shoe may vary within wide limits. There is an important advantage in ironing the edge and adjacent portions of the upper before the sole is attached because those parts are so much more accessible at this time than when the sole is in place.

The surfaces of the various portions of a shoe differ so much in contour that the same ironing surface cannot advantageously be used for treating all the portions of the shoe which it is desirable to iron and an important characteristic of the ironing device of this invention is that it is provided with differently shaped ironing surfaces for treating ,portions of the shoe having didferent contours. This construction can ;be employed with particular advantage in :a stationary ironing device.

Another feature .of the present invention consists in novel means for heating the ironing devices. The device is formed with a chamber which is supplied with a suitable heat distributing medium, oil being preferably used for the purpose. A gas flame or other source of heat is arranged below the ironing device and it is found that the oil distributes the heat with excellent results and maintains the several ironing surfaces at an approximately uniform temperature.

These and other featuresof the invention, including certain combinations of parts and details of construction will be explained in the following description and pointed out in the annexed claims.

Figure l is a side elevation showing a machine equipped with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the stationary ironing device.

The ironing device 2 is provided with a supporting arm or bracket 1 by which it may be attached to the frame of a machine or any other suitable support. The device is shown as a hollow block formed on its front side and its edges with ironing surfaces shaped to act upon different portions of the shoe. The face 5 is particularly adapted for acting upon the side of a shoe adjacent to its edge. The face 6 is formed of a shape and width to ironthe bottom of a lasted welt shoe from the edge of the shoe welt shoes, however, this surface will preferably 'beof an appropriatewidth for treating the shoe bottom from the edge to the shoulder 10 .of the shoe where the upper rises over the usual lipof a welt shoe innersole. The ironing device is preferably formed at the outer edge of the surface 6, that is at 11 with an angular face adapted to force the upper materials snugly into the angle between the said lip or shoulder of the innersole and the feather edge of the innersole. This operation is of advantage in that it positions the upper preparatory to the sewing operation by which it is to be fastened in said angle by stitches passing through the lip. The ironing device is also provided with an angular edge at 13 for similarly treating the shoe when it is presented in the relation shown in dotted lines a with the shoulder 10 against said edge 13. The ironing block is further. provided with a projecting surface 12 .to which the instep face of the shoe may be presented to be ironed, as illustrated in the dotted-line .position 6. By moving the shoe back and forth endwise and .turning it more or less, as will. be readily understood by thosefamiliar with shoe finishing operations, the top face of the shoe can be quickly ironed by this surface 12. On its front side the ironing block has a concave face 14 against which the counter portion of the shoe may be presented to be ironed, as illustrated in the dotted-line position '0 and d. At its right-hand edge the ironing block is provided with an ironing surface 16 against which the side of the shoe at the shank may be presented for ironing this portion of a shoe as in the position. 6.

Preferably the ironing device is formed as a chambered block adapted to contain a heat distributing liquid and said device is heated by a gas flame from a 1burner20 located below the ironing device or :by any other convenient source of heat. A heavy oil which has the advantage that itdoes not evaporate rapidly is preferably used in the chambered :block. It is found in practice that with the construction and arrangement described the ironing device can be uniformly heated and maintained at an even temperature. Shields 21 are preferably provided for retaining the heated air from the gas flame under the ironing device. The ironing device is provided with a contracted neck 22 and a removable cover 24;.

In the use of the invention the shoe is usually presented first to the pounding-up machine. In making welt shoes only the heel portion of the shoe is treated in the pounding-up machine because the shank and the forepart can not be beaten by the "illustrated pounding-up hammer without fiattening down the lip on the innersole to which the upper is to be sewed by a subsequent operation. The shoe is then presented to the stationary ironing device in the several positions indicated at a, Z), c, d, and e in Fig. 2 or any such of these as may be desirable for ironing the particular shoe. In presenting the shoe in the position a the side, edge, and bottom faces of the shoe are simultaneously ironed and the edge of the shoe shaped, this operation being effected better and more rapidly than could be done by presenting the side and bottom faces to an ironing surface at different times.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. An apparatus of the class described, comprising a single stationarily supported ironing device having a work-rubbing surface shaped to engage simultaneously the side and bottom of a lasted shoe adjacent to the edge, and means for heating the ironing device.

2. An ironing device, comprising a heated block mounted on a stationary support and formed with an ironing face shaped to engage the side of a shoe adjacent to its edge and with an ironing face shaped and arranged relatively to the first-mentioned face to engage the upper on the bottom face of a welt shoe between the edge of the shoe and the shoulder of the innersole.

3. An apparatus of the class described, comprising a stationarily supported ironing device having a work rubbing surface shaped to press the upper into the angle between the feather-edge and the lip of a welt shoe, and means for heating said device.

4:. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a stationary support and one ironing device fixed thereon and having a plurality of diflerently formed ad-. jacent work-engaging faces adapted to the shape of difierent portions of a shoe, of means for heating said ironing device.

5. An apparatus of the class described, comprising a chambered ironing device adapted to contain a heat distributing liquid and provided with a plurality of differently formed Work-engaging faces within the reach of the operator while he is standing in a single position and adapted to the shape of different portions of a shoe, and means for heating said liquid.

6. An apparatus of the class described comprising an internally heated stationary block having the projecting acutely angular surface 12 shaped and arranged for rubbing the concave top face of the instep portion of the shoe, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. An apparatus of the class described comprising an internally heated stationary block having the re-entrant angle formed by the surfaces 5, 6 one of which is of a width to iron the bottom of a lasted welt shoe from the lip to the edge and the other of which is shaped to iron the portion of the side of the shoe at and adjacent to the edge of the shoe, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEO. S. OOVELL.

Witnesses:

G120. FERGUSON, ARTHUR L. RUssELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

